Humble Tributes to Samar Bagchi on His Second Death Anniversary
- A Lifelong Friendship Rooted in Science and Social Change
- Samar Bagchi and His Role in Science Education in India
- From Jalebi Mornings to School Classrooms: The Personal Side of Samarda
- His Contribution to Doordarshan’s ‘Quest’ and Popular Science
- Activism, Rationalism, and the Fight Against Superstition
- Samar Bagchi’s Involvement in People’s Movements and the NAPM Bulletin
- Legacy of Compassion: From Science Museums to Orphanages
- A Man Without Ego: The Parallel Lives of Gour Kishore Ghosh and Samar Bagchi
Why India Needs More Minds Like Samar Bagchi Today
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| Samar Bagchi |
On the second remembrance day of Samar Bagchi, Dr Suresh Khairnar pays humble tribute to a scientist who revolutionised science education in India. Known for his passion, humility, and lifelong commitment to rationality and children’s education, Samar Bagchi remains an inspiration to all.
Today, 20th July, humble greetings on the occasion of the second memorial day of Samar Bagchi.
The time of friendship with Samarda was probably around 1990-91. After that, he used to come to our Fortwilliam house at least once a week in the morning with a basket of hot jalebi and samosas. And he used to talk to both our sons in simple and easy language of science, giving many examples. Seeing all this, Madam Khairnar continued to call him to her Fortwilliam Kendriya Vidyalaya many times for guidance to the children as well as the teachers. And he was also included in the school advisory committee. Working on the ground level regarding education was the biggest passion of his life, so he used to regularly visit schools in backwards departments of West Bengal, like Purulia-Bankura. I had recommended him to visit many places in Maharashtra as well. His experiences in Nagpur and Pune were of benefit in that. Similarly, my friend Suresh Agarwal in Nagpur has been organising Apoorva Vigyan Mela for more than thirty years. Samarda used to come every year for that, too.
Similarly, in the process of spreading science education at every level, Samarda also did the work of showing the first program titled Quest on Doordarshan in the 80s. Therefore, he was like a hero to the viewers of that time. I have experienced this myself. We used to go to Calcutta Coffee House sometimes to hang out. One day, we were both sitting on a corner table of the Coffee House. Then after some time, three-four youngsters, including a girl, stood up with diaries in their hands and started saying "Autograph please". Samarda started smiling and said, "Suresh, he is asking for your autograph." So I said "Not at all, he has come for your autograph" because Samar Bagchi was probably the first scientist of India, who had regularly done a program on science named Quest on Doordarshan for some days. So, at that time, all the students who had seen him while studying in school considered Samarda a celebrity. And probably all the people of that young generation were among them. But Samarda kept praising me for some time and kept saying to them that "This bearded man is a bigger man than me. And take his autograph." Finally, I had to say that "I am definitely a big man in your eyes, but for now, please give your autograph to these children."
Samar Bagchi, who has contributed to the creation of five science museums in the east of India. And at one time, he also served as the head of the museum of the whole world. Most importantly, to free the poor students of our country from the frustration of science i.e. expensive and difficult education, he made science equipment from junk materials and went to schools all over the country to propagate science till the end of his life.
In 2022, he asked me (age 90) "The doctors have advised that it is time for your old pacemaker to be replaced. Get a new one installed now, what is your opinion?" So I said, "As far as your financial condition is concerned, you can easily extend the life of your life by spending some more money." So, after his pacemaker operation, he went to the school in Purulia within a month. I salute the spirit of such a Samarda. If even a hundred such Samardas emerge in this country, then the country's superstition and fanaticism can be managed. After that pacemaker, he became a little more active for some time. He probably started having some pain in his waist. Due to this, another operation was done. According to my knowledge, this was his fifteenth operation in his life. Being a scientist himself, and the elder brother and younger sister in the house were big doctors. That is why he had undergone so many operations. But the last operation was done at the age of more than ninety years. And after that, he was suffering from some problem or the other. Due to which he will not be among us on 20th July 2023 at the age of 91. It must have been the time of 1985-86 in Dharmatala, Calcutta, which is now called Lenin Sarani. There, in front of the Peerless Headquarters, refugees from Marijhapi (perhaps some people had come after 1971 when Bangladesh was formed, and they had still not got citizenship.) Therefore, a protest demonstration was going on on behalf of the All India Fishermen's Forum. And Medha Patkar, Thomas Kochery and I were also involved in supporting them. And there were many people standing on the footpath next to the protest. In which two people of the same age, probably sixty years old, were standing. And as soon as I got down from the stage and reached the footpath, they surrounded me and asked, "Medhaji is staying at your house?" So I said yes. "So they said that we want to meet him. Will it be alright if we come to your house tomorrow morning? So I asked them to introduce themselves and why do you want to meet Medhaji? They said, "I am Samar Bagchi, former superintendent of Birla Technical Museum, Calcutta." And the other gentleman said, "I am Ajit Narayan Bose, retired professor of economics from IIT." So I asked, "Why do you want to meet Medhaji?" They said, "We want to meet to talk about his Narmada movement." Anyway, at that time there was no special support for Narmada Bachao Andolan in Calcutta. We have an old friend Niranjan Haldar, who is a one-man show. So I thought that both the old people are quite composed. And if these two are also ready, then it is good. So I gave them our home address. And surprisingly, both of them were present at our house at six in the morning. This was the beginning of an acquaintance with Samarda and Ajitda.
Both of them were disillusioned with the old communist party. Hence, the ghost of Soviet Russia's model of development had not completely left their minds. In this, Ajitda turned out to be more radical. Samarda had already returned from the Soviet Union as the President of the International Museum, mentally somewhat disillusioned. It took some time for Ajitda. But he too soon got ready for the concept of development. And as soon as he got ready, he immediately proposed to start a magazine in English. Which later started as NAPM Bulletin. And Ajitda was given the responsibility of editor.
At the insistence of Ajitda and Samarada, a day-long conference of NAPM was soon organised at the Students Hall on College Street in Calcutta. And as far as I could observe, probably the maximum number of activists of Calcutta had gathered at the Students Hall that day. Seeing the presence of such people who did not even want to see each other's faces, I felt that this was a very good time to form a temporary committee. But our old colleague Niranjan Haldar created a hurdle and did not let it happen. And the day-long conference ended in speeches only.
But after that another meeting was organised at 18 Suryasen Street. In which Friends of Narmada was established. In which they started making me the president. So I said that I am in Calcutta today because of Mrs. Khairnar's job in Kendriya Vidyalaya. There are frequent transfers in her job in Kendriya Vidyalaya. And it is not known where she will be sent tomorrow? Therefore and another important thing, do not make the mistake of giving leadership of such processes to a non-Bengali in Bengal. Don't do this when there are so many great people in Bengal. So Manindra Narayan Bose was made the president of the Bengal chapter of Friends of Narmada.
In this entire episode, Ajitda and Samarda's role has been very important. And it has helped me to become even closer to them. Although both of them used to come to my house regularly. And there used to be heated debates. Because both the Marxist and the Socialist parties are people who sympathize with the Soviet Russia's model of development. They think that only that model of development is right. Because apart from Ajitda and Samarda, I had relations with Maharashtra's socialist leaders Nanasaheb Gore, S.M. Joshi, Professor Madhu Dandavate, George Fernandes, Mrinal Gore and Mohan Dharia. And they too used to say the same thing "Suresh, till when will our farmers depend on rainwater and do farming?" So I told them that all the big dams built all over the world in the name of irrigation are being rejected in every way on the scale of technology. And the most important thing is that all the dams are being rejected after seeing a huge difference in the cost of building the dam and then in its evaluation, the cost-benefit ratio. India is the only country which is still copying their old technology.
Samarda has very well written a very good essay on the concept of development of Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Similarly, he has also tried to write the history of science. Most of his writings have been in Bangla. He got the opportunity to write a regular column in the magazine of a political party named SUCI. And in my opinion, he has written most of his writings on the concept of science and development. Samarda was a very good person along with being a scientist. I have seen two people in my fifteen years of stay in Bengal, who had almost no ego and greed. And they were very loving, one of them was writer-journalist Gourakishore Ghosh and the other was Samar Bagchi. Both were my family friends. Therefore, I have seen both of them very closely. I have spent thousands of hours hanging out with them. And he had a very close relationship with the entire family of both, and with our family. We have enjoyed the opportunity of sharing food, living together, from Kalamandir in Calcutta to Doverlane Sangeet Mehfil. Perhaps our fifteen years of living in Calcutta (1982-97) was the most beautiful time of our lives, and the best time for literature, art, and human relationships. In which Gourda and Samarda deserve the most credit. Despite being a scientist, Samarda helped Maitreyi Devi, a Bengali writer, in her orphanage, and after Maitreyi Devi, he looked after the work of that orphanage. Similarly, Gourda too had started an ashram for women, which his father had started. He too looked after its work after his death. And the human quality of both was of a very high level. I feel that both were born only to love. With the departure of Samarda and Gourda, Calcutta feels empty to me. Humble greetings on the second remembrance day of Samarda today.
Dr. Suresh Khairnar,
20 July 2025, Nagpur.
